Alternative pop star Lorde has surprised fans with a secret set at Glastonbury Festival performing her latest album Virgin, which was released on Friday, in full.
The 28-year-old – whose real name is Ella Yelich-O'Connor – took to the Woodsies stage at 11.30am as fans screamed at the top of their voices, before opening with latest single and the record’s opening track, Hammer.
Masses of festivalgoers had converged on the tent, with a bumper crowd waiting outside.
Midway through her set she told the audience: "How you doing? You OK?
"This is f****** sick, thank you so much for being here with us on the day that Virgin was born.
"We decided to play the whole record for you from front to back.
"No, this record took me a lot, I didn’t know if I would make another record to be honest, but I’m back here.
"I’m so thankful to you for waiting for me, thank you for sitting in the sun right now, hope you have a sick f****** Glastonbury."
Waving her shirt to cool down, Virgin’s lead single What Was That prompted mass singalongs as flags with the new LP’s cover and title waved.
Second single Man Of The Year climaxed with Lorde laying down on the floor of the building site-like set, as lasers shot out across the crowd from behind her.
Later in the set, she told the massive crowd: "This is crazy for me too, I hope you understand."
The New Zealand-born singer pulled her top off to finish with a double hit of Ribs from her debut album Pure Heroine, which she said was first played at Glastonbury 2017, and Melodrama’s Green Light, which saw the lasers turn from blue to the colour mentioned in the track.
The final song prompted a football terrace-style singalong that almost drowned out Lorde herself.
Virgin is the singer’s fourth studio album, with her previous three Pure Heroine (2013), Melodrama (2017) and Solar Power (2021) all reaching the top 10 of the UK albums chart.
The singer is best known for songs such as Homemade Dynamite, Solar Power and her second single Royals, which reached number one in the UK singles chart.
Source: Press Association
